Unless you’ve had your head in the sand this week, you’ll know that Widnes Vikings have had arguably the biggest fight in their history and at times like these, you need people to stand up and be counted and one man that has definitely not had his head in the sand is this week’s Sports 360 ‘Supremo,’ Dave Rolt.
Without the efforts of ‘Mr Widnes’ himself in this last week, who knows what the outcome might have been and although the next few years won’t be easy, at least this great rugby league town has a team.
It was outstanding to see ‘Chemics,’ and ‘Vikings’ of all ages and the wider rugby league family pull together in the club’s hour of need and whether it was donating large sums of money as many did or even spreading the plight of the club across social media, everybody’s efforts have helped reach the outcome we all wanted.
Who knows how far the club’s and fans pleas reached in the modern, fast paced world that we live in, but it was probably far enough to reach hundreds of thousands of us in rugby league and far enough to enlist the help of players past and present, actors and even a Spice Girl. None of this however, would’ve been possible without Rolty!
There’s been talk of statues, stands named in his honour and even a Knighthood for the man who’s carried out every role in the club apart from scrum half, but Dave is someone who MUST be involved with the Vikings moving forward, in whatever capacity the new owners feel fit.
You can tell how much he loves the town and the club when you’re in his company and it’s this love and enthusiasm that will carry this club forward and allow it to #RiseAgain.
It feels like this should end with an intervention from Michael Aspel but the sincerest thanks from Widnes fans, rugby league fans and being named Sports 360 ‘Supremo’ will have to do………..Well played Rolty. Well played!
